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In the latest blow to Milberg Weiss, the once-powerful class action law firm now facing criminal charges for undisclosed payments the firm allegedly made to class representatives, an indictment against lead partner Mel Weiss is anticipated today. The firm released the following statement yesterday:

Milberg Weiss understands that a second superseding indictment will beissued tomorrow that will include new charges against the Firm and alsoMelvyn Weiss. Mr. Weiss has decided to discontinue his participation inFirm management in order to focus on the defense of the charges againsthim. The Firm's other partners, none of whom is alleged to have beeninvolved in any wrongdoing, will be responsible for its management andlitigation activities. Mr. Weiss will remain available to counsel clientsand Firm attorneys. The Firm remains proud of Mr. Weiss' and the Firm'saccomplishments over the years and will continue to fight for its clientsand class members and to produce the excellent results for which it isknown. We do not anticipate any interruption in our work and we lookforward to putting this difficult period behind us.

Having secured a plea agreement this week with one of its biggest targets in the criminal prosecution of the Milberg Weiss law firm, the government is moving forward against another.

Melvyn Weiss, co-founder of the plaintiffs firm and a pioneer in the field of securities class-action cases, is expected to be indicted today in Los Angeles, according to people familiar with the situation. An indictment would come more than a year after Milberg and two then-name partners were charged with fraud for allegedly paying kickbacks to clients to induce them to serve as lead plaintiffs in lucrative securities class actions and shareholder suits. ...

It is expected that the indictment will charge Mr. Weiss with helping to steer secret payments to clients who served as lead plaintiffs in class actions; it will also raise a charge new to the case -- that Mr. Weiss allegedly obstructed justice by failing to turn over a document subpoenaed by prosecutors, according to people familiar with the case.

Although the firm is best known for its work in securities class actions, Milberg Weiss has represented plaintiffs in significant mass tort litigation in the past decade, including Rezulin, Zyprexa, Vioxx, fen-phen, and Exxon Valdez litigation.